"5 YEARS OF THE 500 YEARS"

5 years of creating a space for minority and migrant youth groups in
Europe

In 1498 Vasco Da Gama succeeded in circumnavigating the Cape of Good
Hope, a symbolic affirmation of European conquest and domination of
the continent of Africa. On the 27th of May 1498 he arrived at the
port of Calicut on the cost of India marking the beginning of
European conquest and domination of Asia.

Our friends in Asia are, marking this occasion with a Youth March
with the theme; 'Revisiting 500 years of History'. For both Africa
and Asia 1998 is certainly a good occasion to call for a relationship
of equals with Europe after over 500 years of Subservient
Relationships.

This is yet another Kairos moment for Europe, this is the time to set
credible signs of equality, justice and hope among humanity. This is
an opportunity to call on Europe for justice - 'a Europe for
Justice'!!!

The last five years have been very trying years of transforming the
Kairos Youth idea into a concrete space for young people. Now Kairos
Jeunesse is a coalition of some small and medium size groups and
organisation working with young migrants and minorities in over 9
European countries.

It has become a space for exchanging experiences and ideas. It has
provided for many a platform to express their cultural heritage, an
occasion for cultural interaction. For others it has been an opening
for training and education, an opportunity to be empowered and to
actively participate in the solution-seeking process at the European
level.

When it comes to looking for solutions to such problems like
integration and cultural identity, drugs and crime, unemployment and
youth delinquency, racism and xenophobia, the 'migrant' youth is once
again excluded. Thought an indisputable part of the problem very
little is done to consider their opinion nor their interest in the
quest for solutions. Probably, and most probably they hold the key to
solving most of these problems.

Unfortunately in the few cases where space has been created, there
are strings attached: They lacked the needed independence and open
atmosphere to creatively address any of the aforementioned issues.
There, one has no option but to grapple with the legacies of national
and religious conflicts, outmoded stereotypes and prejudices, thus
leaving hardly any time for creative initiatives.

Many of our activities assisted participants to overcome their
apathy and motivated them to play more active roles in the process of
social transformation. The sheer magnitude of the problems they
encountered often discouraged them from doing a thing. However
opportunities to exchange experiences as well as plan common
activities, motivated and built their self-confidence.

The Right to freedom-of-movement became a reality for many who took
part in our international activities. Kairos Jeunesse was able to
assist participants to over come the economic and political barriers
that made it almost impossible for many of the young people to move
from one European city to the other. It enabled participants to
socialise across local and national boundaries and gave some the only
opportunity to visit relatives, friends and loved-ones.
Unfortunately, it is also in this sphere that we came face to face
with the ugly face of institutionalised racism.

Financial constrains still remains the main handicap in running the
co-ordination office in Brussels which has become the vanguard of
process. Thanks to the bold effort of a Brussels based initiative -
�The Daughters of the Black Continent�, the office shall continue to
operate into the 21st century. It is no coincident that Kairos
Jeunesse shall be undertaking a number of activities to mark the
United Nations' Year for Africa in 1998.

The Kairos Jeunesse process owes its success to the financial and
technical support of the World Council of Churches, the Council of
Europe's European Youth Foundation and the European Union's Youth for
Europe Programme, to whom we say a big thank you. Of course without
the selfless contributions of Susanne, Paul, Luc, Mark, Theresa,
Virginia, Nancy, Alan, Aliye, Chris, Pedro, Ahmed, Annalisa, Claudia,
Carmen, Carlien, Mustafa, Thomas, Ali, Pascal, Amie, Faisal...(to
name but a handful) we would hardly have come this far with the
process.

We wish the new generation that has taken up the challeng to continue
with the process into the year 2000, all the blessings and the very
best of luck. There are already some signs of hope. They shall not be
alone; the EU Migrants Forum has finally joined ranks and created at
the Europen level a space for 'migrant' youth groups... a BIG step
indeed.

IT'S HAPPENING HERE
Jacqueline Ngoya

The flavour of the moment is a COMEDY, an African version of the
famous Cinderella. As you may all know , the year 1998 has been
declared the INTERNATIONAL YEAR FOR AFRICA by the UN, so we "the
Daughters of the Black Continent" have decided over here to honour
that year with a dazzling play which we will be performing all over
in Belgium!

You might ask yourself: "Why Cinderella?". Well..., why not
actually! You all know the story of Cinderella just imagine what it
would be like nowadays in an Afro-European context. The play has
been rewritten by 2 black females, members of Kairos. The aim of the
play is to try to break the barriers of racism, the principal factor
being ignorance. The play will be showing some cultural heritage of
Africa - traditional dresses, certain slangs used by young people,
music and more - all of this in a entertaining and relaxing way.
This is a good opportunity to share in some African creativity.

The play will also allow young people, non-professional actors in
most cases to have a first insight in the magical world of the
theatre. We hope they will enjoy a new and enriching experience,
expressing their cultural inheritance and that some might open
their mind to the prospect of a new career.

Various human faults; such as jealousy, envy, deceit... will be
addressed so would such qualities like kindness, bravery, loyalty...
The audiance will appreciate a moral lesson and at the same time,
especially for non-Africans, discover and understand the African
perception and hopfully stop the stereotyping and prejudices. We
hope to show the audiance how young people of African descent can
take initiatives and are willing to mingle in a multicultural
society.

Well, it looks like we are going to be very busy over here! The play
will be performed in French and will start at the end of April 1998.
You are of course all welcome to the performances !!!

POURQUOI UNE PIECE DE THEATRE?
Miriam Depasse

Cette année, nous avons décidé d'inclure dans nos projets, la
réalisation d'une pièce de théâtre. L'histoire est une nouvelle
version du célèbre conte de fées de Cendrillon. Quelle aurait été
l'histoire de Cendrillon si elle avait vécu à cette époque dans un
pays imaginaire mélangeant les cultures africaines et européennes?

Cette pièce tend à briser les barrières du racisme, en ce sens que
nous attendons un public très diversifié qui pourra apprécier tous
les aspects culturels de l'Afrique, que ce soit dans les vêtements
traditionnels, le langage ou encore la musique, éléments qui seront
fort représentés dans cette pièce, de façon relaxante et amusante.
Cette image positive, différente et valorisante de l'africain aidera
aussi à combattre les différents préjugés et surtout cet horrible mot
qu'est le racisme.

La plupart du temps, la crise d'identité à laquelle l'afro-européen
fait face se traduit par des actes de violence. C'est pourquoi nous
voulons changer cela en poussant les jeunes à utiliser d'autres
moyens, notamment artistiques, afin de faire passer leurs messages.
Cette idée de vouloir éduquer le public sur l'héritage africain par
le biais du théâtre est assez nouvelle et nous espérons que ce moyen
de sensibilisation montrera une image positive de l'africain dans la
communauté multiculturelle dans laquelle nous vivons. L'objectif de
cette pièce de théâtre sera également de sensibiliser les comunautés
sur les différents problèmes auxquels peuvent faire face beaucoup
d'africains dans le monde.

NOS OBJECTIFS ET BUTS
L'année 1998 a été décretée "Année Internationale de l'Afrique" par
les Nations Unies. En effet, il y a 500 ans, le navigateur
portugais, Vasco da Gama réussit à faire le tour du Cap de Bonne
Espérance et depuis lors, la relation entre l'Europe et le continent
africain ne fut rien d'autre qu'une perpétuelle exploitation et
subordination. Cela n'aida pas à évaluer à sa juste valeur l'image
de l'africain. Nous profiterons donc de cette occasion pour montrer
d'une part, que les Africains peuvent être créatifs et que la culture
contribue à la création d'une Afrique nouvelle. Et d'autre part
souligner les problèmes concernant le développement du continent
africain et de l'africain lui-même, sans oublier de mentionner dans
l'agenda européen, le rôle des afro-européens.

Montrer que les jeunes d'aujourd'hui sont capables de prendre des
initiatives et qu'ils désirent également prendre part à l'émergence
de la société multiculturelle de demain.

Donner une autre image, offrir une autre perspective du peuple
africain et ainsi mettre fin à tous les préjugés auxquels celui-ci
doit faire face.

Permettre à des jeunes africains de s'exprimer à travers le théâtre.
La parole sera donnée à des amateurs qui ont une réelle passion pour
le théâtre.

Véhiculer un message de paix et de tolérance dans un monde où racisme
et xénophobie constituent un danger quotidien pour les générations
futures.

Fournir une image plus positive de la femme africaine et être un
modèle pour les générations à venir.

Avec ce projet théâtral, nous espérons fournir un espace qui pourrait
permettre aux jeunes de tout horizon vivant dans une Europe
multiculturelle de se rencontrer, d'échanger des expériences et aussi
d'être ouverts à l'héritage de la culture africaine.

FEATURE ARTICLES
Miriam Depasse

L'image du Noir dans la publicité

Introduction
Fonctionnant comme un révélateur de la société qui la produit, la
publicité se nourrit de l'imaginaire du consommateur. Depuis que la
création publicitaire existe, elle met en scène le personnage noir,
mais sans prédilection majeure. Pourtant celui-ci apparaîtra très
tôt comme un réservoir de fantasmes dans lequel celle-ci va puiser.
La représentation publicitaire a une fonction précise, créer le
désir d'achat parmi les consommateurs. Le personnage noir sait-il
suciter ce désir, comment le fait-il, existe-il une autonomie de la
représentation publicitaire par rapport aux autres systèmes de
représentation de ce personnage ? Les publicités sont des documents
complexes à analyser de par la complexité des cadres de la stratégie
publicitaires qui, au niveau de l'image, mêle réél et fiction, un
produit et un scénario qui vise à suciter la consommation. Ainsi ces
supports nous permettent de constater à une époque et un espace
donné, les images les plus expressives de la société qui les produit
et les regarde, mais perverties par une mise en scène, elles ne sont
sûrement pas son expression exacte.

Publicités ommerciales
Les publicités représentant des Noirs ne sont pas nombreuses, mais
elles sont significatives des rapports entretenus entre Blanc et
Noirs. L'emploi des Noirs dans la publicité date au moins du
moyen-âge dans certains pays d' Europe ou la tête de ceux-ci
servaient d' emblème aux brasseurs et aux auberges tout comme à la
guilde des tailleurs

Le tabac
Le personnage Noir est utilisé pour vanter toute une catégorie de
produits comme notamment le tabac. Le tabac a connu un essor au
17ème siècle, le premier emblème utilisé pour ce produit fût un
personnage négroïde, coiffé d'un chapeau de plumes et d'une jupe de
feuilles de tabac. Ce personnage fût fortement utilisé en europe au
17ème et aux Etats-Unis au 18ème. En Europe le Noir est représenté
comme producteur, travailleur, serviteur ou comme élément décoratif,
mais pas comme consommateur Le premier Noir à apparaître pour les
publicités de cigares fût Sambo (bouffon, gredin) vers 1850 aux
Etats-Unis. Le Noir est souvent représenté comme bouffon, alors que
le dandy est plus souvent créole ou blanc. Mais petit à petit, les
réclames pour le tabac ne mettront plus en scène le Noir
travailleur, mais le Noir qui impose un nouveau style, et son avis
de connaisseur ne pourra qu' être pris en considération. Surgit
alors l'image du dandy Noir. En Europe et aux Etats-Unis, cela fût
assez surprenant car, d'un côté le personnage Noir était parodié
dans les "minstrel show" (de menestre: imitation blanche de la
culture noire, parodie-satire dans les théâtres,...) mais de l'autre
on l'utilise comme modèle pour les consommateurs Blancs. Cela
s'explicait tout simplement par le fait que, suite à l'expansion du
tabac, on cherchait à pénétrer de nouveaux marchés et on réalisait
de nouveaux emblèmes. L'utilisation du dandy Noir à la mode et bien
habillé pouvait servir d'emblème précisément parcequ'il était un
modèle de succès peu probale. Depuis la seconde guerre mondiale, la
publicité pour les cigares a diminué et le personnage Noir a disparu
des emballages.

Rhum, chocolat, café, cacao
Tous ces produits issus du labeur des esclaves sont devenus, à une
époque, des produits de luxes. En effet, à l'origine, ces produits
étaient accessibles aux classes sociales aisées (à l' exception de
la boisson des marins: le rhum).

Le rhum
Au début du siècle, les étiquettes de bouteils de rhum représentent
souvent des dockers Noirs transportant des tonneaux, mais aussi et
surtout des jeunes filles créoles proposant ce breuvage. La marque
"la negrita", littéralement la négresse a été déposée en 1886 et est
probablement le plus ancien des personnage publicitaire français.

Le café
L'image d'un Noir dégustant une tasse de café a été utilisée en
abondance par les publicitaires. Le nom de ce produit a souvent une
connotation qui évoque le métissage: "café Kalonda", "café Malongo",
"café Katuka", "Deutch brand Brazil",... Même de nos jours, un rôle
dévolu à des non- blancs est celui de présentateur de ce type de
boissons. C' est souvent une jeune femme métissée de type brézilien
ou indianisée qui les proposent. La connotation de ces affiches est
sensualité, détente et exotisme.

à suivre.

Black People In Advertisment

Advertisment is the mirror of the society. Advetisments are difficult
to analyse because it mixes reality and illusions, a product and a
scenario which is aimed at consumption. Since the advent of
advertisment Black people have been used but without major
predilection. Advertisments with blacks are not legion but are
significant of the relation between whites and Blacks. The use of
Blacks in advertisment appeared in the Middle Ages in some Europe
countries where their heads were used as emblems for inns and
breweries.

Black people were used to illustrate a lot of products as for
instance tobacoc, rum, chocolate, coffee and cocoa. The first Black
use in an advertisment for cigar was Sambo in 1850 in the United
States. Blacks were usually used as "buffoon" and the dandy was a
creole or a White. But little by little, the Black will become the
dandy. This was strange because Black were parodyed in the "Minstrel
shows" but on the other hand they were a model for consumption. At
the beginning of the century Blacks were used in illustration on the
labels of rum products. The labels often depict black dock workers
carrying casks, and above all, Creaole beauties serving this
beverage.
to be cont.

At Million Woman March,
Focus Is On Family

Philadelphia - on the 25th of October 25- hundreds of thousands of
women converged in the center of Philadelphia for the Million Woman
March, a rally promoted as a daylong celebration of family unit and
of what it means to be a woman of african descent in America. The
rally was organized by a small group of local women, led by Phile
Chionesu, owner of an African crafts shop who has worked for years
on community issues. She is not connected to national black
organizations and was inexperienced in starting a mass rally. The
march drew about 300,000 people, according to unofficial estimates
by the Philadelphia Police Departement. Organizers said the number
of people was as high as as 1.5 million. Early rain discouraged
some from marching, but thousands of others ignored the rain to clog
city streets on their walk to the Parkway. The rally brought
together women from across the country listened to a long list of
speakers addressing issues of repentance, resurrection and
restoration. Unlike the million Man March, which featured a
succession of prominent political and religious leaders as speakers,
the women here heard largely from people who were little-known
outside Philadelphia's urban neighborhoods. One of the notable
exceptions, and one of the few men invited to participate, was
representative John Conyers, democrat of Michigan. A veteran of past
civil rights events, he struck a familiar notes in his short speech,
saying:" We want justice in this country. That's why women are
marching, not just for today but all their lives". Leona Smith,
president of the National Union of Homeless, pleaded with the crowd:
"This will all be in vain if you do not continue to organize and
mobilize. This day will mean nothing". Other issues included a call
for separate black public schools, more programs to help women
leaving prison adjust to the outside world and new ways to help end
homelessness.

AFTER OVER 500 YEARS OF SUBSERVIENT RELATIONSHIPS...
albert gyan

Kairos Jeunesse will be launching a campaign in 1998; calling on all
parties to review their relationships with the African contintent
and transform all identifiable subservient relationships into
partnerships of equals. This is one of three projects by KJ to mark
the United Nations' Year of Africa. The campaign shall exploit all
the available means of communication - new and old - to get the
message across to - both governmental and non-governmental
institutions.

"How far have things changed since the first Europeans sailed down to
Africa to exploit the continent over 500 years ago? Is the situation
any different today as almost all African countries have fought and
won their independence? What has the continent gained in sending its
sons and daughters into slavery to sweat and toil for industrial
revolutions to happen. On what does it live today and feed the
generations tomorrow, after its rich and arable soils have been
exploited and polluted, its lands been mined and Mined, its waters
been drained and dyed. How much more blood and human lives should be
offered? Can anybody tell...? What good does such lamentation do, if
not make as pause, reflect and start anew. We seek to initiate a
partnership of equals, a process of change with an understanding of
coexistence that gives as much as it takes and takes as much as it
gives. The moment for change is certainly not tomorrow, that moment
is now and now is ours for the taking."

In connection with this campaign a consultation meeting of some
representatives of African and European NGOs engaged with the issues
of the north-south dichotomy is scheduled for March/April in Accra,
Ghana. This is to provide a forum for exchanging experiences and
ideas as well as evaluating the role of the non-governmental sector
in changing the ever-exploitative relationship between the two
continents.

The occasion of the meeting shall be used to formally launch the
campaign, calling on all parties both governmental and
non-governmental, profit and non-profit, to commemorate this occasion
by reviewing their relationships with the African continent and
consider concrete steps to replace any identifiable subservient
relationships with partnerships of equals. The opportunity will also
be used to synergise the efforts being made by various NGOs, Pressure
Groups, Advocacy Desks, etc. to ensure an effective representation of
the interest of the African continent in Europe, more especially in
the political decision-making organs of the EU and its' members
states.

We are extending an invitation to all of you to join voices with us
and let the voiceless be heard.

Contact: e-mail: [email protected]
Kairos Website: http//c3.hu/(bocs

AN ENCOUNTER WITH SHEBA
Rugurika Christine

"What gifts do we as black people of Europe have to give to Europe in
the new millenium?" was the theme of the General Assembly of SHEBA,
to which four members of the Kairos Jeunesse team participated.

Who is SHEBA?
SHEBA (South Hope in a Europe with (out) Barriers.) is an association
of christians willing to accept people with different persuations,
who wish to react to the racism. Though most of the members are
black, what is really interesting about SHEBA is that they accept
anyone who considers her-/himself as black on the basis of their own
experience about racism because of their colour or race. the
colonial past of their countries of origin their own conviction of
themselves as being black. The age varied from 7 to 77 but with a
majority of +35years people. I really think it was a very nice
experience to gettogether with people form at least 3 different
generations.

The General Assembly
These were three exiciting days with people from Holland, UK,
Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. This took place in Ede, Holland
in a very warm and charming hotel - Belmont. The staff and the guests
were very nice and all smiles.

Day One:
We arrived in Ede at 2.30 pm and were picked up by a van to Belmont
Hotel. We checked in at the reception and after a little rest in our
rooms, we went down to meet the other participants just arriving.
After the supper 6 p.m., we gathered in the conference room for the
first formal session. After SHEBA had been introducted, we all had
the chance to introduce ourselves to the other members. Later I was
so glad to learn that SHEBA was ready to co-operate with us (Kairos
J.) in the future. The first session come to an end and it was time
to go to sleep...Sleep? No! I don't think so! We stayed up
downstairs and talked, talked and talked till...uhm...uhm...
sometime after 2.00am.

Day Two
Wakening up that morning at 8.00am was very hard but the delicious
breakfast put us back on our feet. The first meeting of the day was
about how we, black people, can we be proud of our history and
identity. The speaker showed us marvellous drawing of her daughters
and horrible pictures of racism. We did a workshop on how to get more
black men attract and to get together and create charities.

In the 2nd workshop we broke up into generation groups. We dicussed
such issues as integration, racism and what we as black people can do
to improve our situation in Europe. After supper there was a
reflection on the 2 themes presented during the day. Around 8.30pm
there was a cultural evening where each group had to present a game,
or a poem, or some jokes, anything to entertain: We then danced to
ghani, soca music... and had lots of fun. A GREAT GREAT NIGHT!!!!!!!

Day three
Wakening up on the third day was harder than never. After breakfast,
the financial problems and the general situation was explained to us.
A summary of what we had discussed during these 2 days was also
presented. After lunch there were the emotional goodbyes

These were:
3 days of good feelings!
3 days of joy, learning, meeting people!
3 days of prayers!
Can you do all these things in 3 days?
Now, I know I can.

For more about SHEBA contact:
Secretariat SHEBA, c/o Kerk en Wereld
T.a.v. Doreen Hazel, P.O. Box 19, AA Driebergen
THE NETHERLANDS
***

WHAT ABOUT "CROSSBREEDS"?
Martine Vermaut

Having both Congolese and Belgian parentage myself, I would like to
share my thoughts about the situation of people being brought up by
parents of different cultures in Belgium. What I know about the
previous generation is that most of the marriages between black and
white people, did not succeed very often because of cultural
conflicts and misunderstandings and more so because neither partner
really want to make concessions. Now, it seems to me that to be in a
loving relationship with somebody from a different culture or ethnic
background is a kind of fashionable in certain countries. Curiosity
and/or admiration could be one of the reasons for this increase of
mixed couples. A child of mixed parentage is very often faced with
two different cultures, this can be both negative and positive:
Negative, if each parent tends to impose on the child his of her own
way of life. This is a big obstacle to mutual understanding.
Positive, then child is exposed to get a lot of richness in food,
history, tradition... With respect to the way of thinking it's the
same; children will acquire both ways of thinking and they would be
able to adapt easily to the both cultures. Most of time the child
will be open-minded to other cultures. Most important of all, I
think for anybody with two cultures and anyone else, it is important
to know and to be proud of where one is coming from as well to be
able to fit in these cultures even though he/she maybe more into one
than the other.

"LE METISSAGE"
Je me permets d'écrire en connaissance de cause, car je suis
moi-même issue d'un métissage afro-européen, à savoir belge et
congolais. C'est donc la raison pour laquelle j'en parlerai puisque
j'en ai une certaine expérience. A l'époque de nos parents,
c'est-à-dire la génération avant nous, les mariages ne tenaient pas
souvent, ceci est du notamment aux conflits entre les mentalités.
Les femmes et les hommes étaient également moins ouverts les uns
envers les autres, moins prêts à faire des concessions.
Actuellement, on assiste à une montée incroyable de couples mixtes,
au point que cela devienne même une sorte de mode dans certains
pays. La curiosité et/ou l'admiration constitue une des raisons de
l'ascension des couples mixtes. L'enfant métis est souvent confronté
à deux cultures différentes, ce qui peut être négatif dans certains
cas: dans le cas où chaque parent veut imposer son éducation pensant
qu'elle est la meilleure. C'est un obstacle très important à leur
entente mutuelle. L'enfant bénéficie également d'une grande richesse
au niveau de la nourriture, des traditions, de l'histoire de ses
origines...Au niveau des mentalités, il s'adaptera facilement aux
deux cultures en fonction des circonstances. Mais je crois que le
plus important est de pouvoir s'adapter aux deux cultures même si il
y a un côté dans lequel on se sent le mieux. Ne pas rejeter ses
origines, les accepter tout en étant fièr de ce que l'on est.

Quarterly Newsletter of Kairos Jeunesse
5th Anniversary Edition 1997
Resp. Editor: Channel Depasse
Editorial Team: Channel, Christine,
Martine, Jacqueline & Albert

Secretariat:Rue des Fabriques / Fabrieksstraat 64
1000 Brussels, BELGIUM
Tel./ Fax +32-2-512 01 92 /-512 64 51
E-mail: [email protected]
Kairos Website:http://c3.hu/~bocs

A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR -1998

Published with the support of the:
European Youth Foundation (Council of Europe)